It’s not the earth-shattering partnership that’s going to bring millions of people into the US iGaming market…but Delaware and Nevada are set to begin sharing online poker players soon, which is still exciting news nonetheless.
The two states signed an interstate pact in February 2014 to share their iPoker player pools. It’s taken a lot longer than expected for everything to be put in place, but Nev. Governor Brian Sandoval believes that the two states will begin sharing liquidity in 4-6 weeks. The Las Vegas Review-Journal’s Steve Tetreault broke this news and added that “technical glitches” delayed Sandoval’s proposed-liquidity sharing launch of last summer.
What does this do for US online poker market?
Nevada and Delaware certainly aren’t big states, with populations of 2.84 million and 936k respectively. So pooling players isn’t going to have a significant impact on Nevada nor the US iGaming market as a whole.
However, the real value here is simply the fact that two states are finally set to begin sharing liquidity. With so many complaints about US iGaming and smaller-than-projected numbers, it’s great to have something positive happen. Furthermore, this might help convince other states to take online gaming legislation more seriously.
There are currently plenty of other US states that are at least pondering the idea. California, Illinois, New York, Mississippi, Ohio and Pennsylvania have all at least floated the prospect. And while these states may not see the Delaware/Nevada alliance as that lucrative, it should get them thinking more on the potential of compacts with larger partners.
Another State playing for a WSOP Bracelet
One other aspect that’s certainly worth discussing about the Delaware/Nevada deal is how another state will have the opportunity to play for a gold bracelet. WSOP officials announced that, for the first time ever, there’ll be one online gold bracelet event. And while the specifics of Nevada’s deal with Delaware haven’t been worked out, we’re assuming that this partnership means residents of the Blue Hen State can also play online in the 2015 WSOP.
Provided this is indeed the case, it’ll definitely be exciting to see people from 2,500 miles away competing for a gold bracelet. And while this won’t be a huge motivating factor for state politicians to pass legislation, poker players from all over the US might be pushing just a little harder after the 2015 WSOP.